Oh, Baby!

Post to archives is encouraged, as long as my title and name stay with the story.

Author's Note: Beware of spoilers. This story is set between the episodes "Infection" and "Destruction," immediately following my story "If You Think You Know The Taelons..." You should read my pervious stories, "Hostage - Parts 1 to 4," "Ma'el: Thinker, Dreamer, Achiever," and "If You Think You Know The Taelons...," before reading "Oh, Baby!"

Please feel free to use any of my characters for your own fanfictions, but keep their name and status quo as is in "Oh, Baby!," and please tell me so I can read your story. For the purposes of this story, the characters of Le'er and Pu'ur will each be referred to as "she."

Summary: As his experimental tranquilizer begins to wear off, Augur is driven to search for the missing child that was given birth to by his deceased sister, Juanita, from during Juanita's captivity on the Taelon mothership. Juanita's hybrid child is in the diabolical possession of Zo'or and Le'er, so the Resistance hatches a plan to rescue her.

All of my stories take place in an EFC universe that is basically similar to that of the actual series, but with a lot of my own characters and ideas blended into it. For this reason, please remember that my story arcs and plots will not always be completely accurate with those of the other fanfiction authors whose characters I sometimes use in my own fanfiction, or of the actual series.
 
 

    * * *

    "Pathetic creature!" scoffed Le’er, as she hovered above a large multi-level tank. One level of the tank was built as a terrarium; the other served as an aquarium. Both the terrarium and aquarium sects of the tank were there for the utilization of the organism living inside.
    This aquarium/terrarium duplex, stationed in an examination laboratory aboard the Taelon mothership, housed a hybrid creature that was the only of its kind in the universe. The creature resembled a crustacean, almost lobster-like; yet, it was larger than the average crustacean of Earth. With a red-textured thorax and outer shell, curved pinchers, and wiry antennae, the creature also possessed two large, human-like brown eyes, thick, frizzy black hair stemming from its anterior, and plush pink lips.
    Le’er, her shakarava rapidly glowing and vibrating, reached into the terrarium threateningly. All at once, the hybrid organism snapped its pinchers around Le’er’s arm and jostled the Taelon furiously. Cringing from the pain, Le’er let out a sharp cry of anguish.
    Upon hearing the cries of the Scandinavian Companion, Zo’or and Pu’ur dashed into the room.
    “What are you doing, Le’er?!” Zo’or’s voice boomed.
    “Get this entity off of me!” demanded Le’er.
    Nimbly, Pu’ur reached into the terrarium armed with a pair of tongs and a net. She scooped up the creature that had attacked Le’er, and plunged it into the aquarium.
    “Do not disturb the symbiote,” Pu’ur advised.
    Le’er was turning blue. “I simply meant to show it who is in control,” the Taelon defended herself.
    “We will have time for that later.” Zo’or sounded impatient. “Le’er, you mustn’t . . .”
    “Look!” interrupted Pu’ur. She pointed at the tank.
    The symbiote was crawling out.
    Pu’ur snatched up her net.
    “St - - stop!” stuttered the organism.
    Le’er, Pu’ur, and Zo’or all stood there in shock.
    “You - - you will not deny me of my . . . her - - heritage,” the symbiote spoke, shakily.
    “It can talk?!” scowled Zo’or.
    Pu’ur blushed.
    “Heritage?!” Le’er snapped indignantly. “You are an inferior being. You are half of a human, and half of a Hegawud. You are worthless!”
    The human/Hegawud cross-bred symbiote scampered across the floor of the mothership.
    “I shall seek out my p - - parents!” the symbiote declared.
    “Pu’ur, capture it!” commanded Zo’or.
    Swiftly, Pu’ur netted the creature and grasped onto it with her metallic tweezer tongs.
    PLOP!
    Pu’ur had dropped the hybrid into the tank. She placed a cover over the top of the aquarium/terrarium duplex.
    The Hegawud/human creature tapped on the glass impatiently.
    “I will not be confined in here forever!” it shouted.
    The Taelons stood there looking annoyed - - and slightly frightened - - of the actions and words of this foreign, ambitious new species.

    * * *

    Augur ran screaming through the Resistance lair. He was shrieking crazily, as though he was having a heart attack. All the people who’d been working in the underground hideout stopped their work to stare at Augur’s uncontrollable breakdown.
    “Augur, what are you doing?” Lili came up behind the inventor, who was now stationed at his computer, hacking his way into a Taelon database.
    “Lili, stay out of my way!” Augur shoved Lili aside forcefully, and the captain fell to the floor with a hard thud.
    Immediately, Dr. Park ran up behind Augur, armed with a syringe. She jabbed the needle into Augur’s arm and he fainted in his chair.
    “Park, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” demanded Dr. Belman, coming up beside Dr. Park.
    “We had to stabilize him,” reasoned Park.
    “You had no idea how Augur’s body chemistry would react to the formula of that syringe!” pointed out Belman. “It might have reversed the intended effects of the tranquilizer. You could have killed him!”
    Park folded her arms. “Good thing it didn’t then.”
    “I’ll say!”
    “Dr. Park did what she had to do,” frowned Jonathan Doors, approaching the group. “A few moments ago, Augur was not only a threat to himself, but to the entire Liberation movement.”
    “The sedative in the syringe could have counteracted, causing an inverse effect on Augur!” stressed Belman. “I’m the one who conceived the formula of Augur’s long-term tranquilizer, I should have checked it before someone frivolously jammed it into Augur’s arm!”
    Upon the word “someone,” Belman shot a disapproving glare at Park.
    “Well, Top Superior Doctor!” chided Park sarcastically, “then why did your ‘superior’ sedate wear off on Augur?”
    “It was experimental!” Belman slammed her fist down on a table. “We’re lucky that it lasted this long!”
    “Dr. Park,” Lili spoke up, “you were there when they brought Juanita’s corpse to the hospital. You saw how torn apart he was, how furious he became after finding out that his sister was killed on the Taelon mothership. And who could blame him? What Zo’or and Le’er did to Juanita was despicable!”
    “I’m not denying that,” Park pouted, defensively. “But he was about to hack into the worldwide system of the Taelon Intranet. He probably would have released a virus that could have wiped out every Taelon on Earth, just now!”
    Doors raised his eyebrows. “Why again did you sedate him?” he softly but disgustedly rumbled at Park.
    “My point is,” Park continued, ignoring Doors, “that Augur needed to be restrained. This was the most efficient and effective way to do it. And Belman, I’m sorry if my swift tactics offend you, but that’s how I get things done. Would you expect anything less from Siobhan Beckett?”
    “That’s different,” Dr. Belman argued. “Beckett is a lunatic! And honestly, Dr. Park, I’m seriously beginning to wonder about you too.”
    Before Park had a chance to refute, Augur awoke.
    “Auntie Em?” the hacker murmured drowsily.
    Lili leaned in close to him. “Augur, it’s me,” she whispered softly.
    “Lili?” Augur began to slip out of unconsciousness. “The baby. I need to save the baby.”
    “Baby? What baby?” Belman was confused. “Augur, what are you talking about? Does anyone know what he means?”
    “My . . . ,” Augur searched for the words, “. . . nephew? Or . . . niece? Juanita’s baby. My nephew . . . or niece?”
    “He’s delirious,” groaned Doors.
    “No, I think I know what he’s referring to,” Park realized. “He’s wondering what happened to the child that the Taelons impregnated Juanita with.”
    “I will rescue . . . the child,” Augur declared, “from the Taelons. I will rescue my sister’s . . . child!”

    * * *

    “Repeat, please. I am a Hegawud.”
    Pu’ur slowly enunciated another sentence for the baby symbiote.
    “I am a . . . Hegawud.” Juanita’s baby slowly repeated.
    “These are my pinchers.”
    “These . . . are my . . . pinchers.”
    “This is my hair.”
    “This is . . . ,” the baby fingered its frizzy black hair with its pinchers, “ . . . my hair.”
    “These are my . . .”
    “Pu’ur! What are you doing?!”
    Zo’or stomped into the room, irately. Le’er was right behind him.
    “Nothing.” Pu’ur put her hands behind her back quietly and innocently.
    “You are teaching the creature how to speak, are you not?!” Le’er demanded.
    “No,” answered Pu’ur, guiltily shifting from one foot to the other, as she flustered an anxious shade of blue.
    Zo’or and Le’er didn’t look convinced.
    “That is not a wise idea, Pu’ur,” Zo’or glared at the Taelon scientist.
    “You may come to regret that decision,” added Le’er, threateningly.
    “I see no harm in it,” Pu’ur indifferently stated.
    “Well, we disagree,” argued Zo’or. “Do not do it again.”
    “Be nice to my Auntie Pu’ur!” the baby symbiote suddenly piped up.
    “Auntie Pu’ur?!” Le’er angrily shot a scowl at the Companion surgeon, and then exchanged annoyed glances with Zo’or.
    Suddenly, the door to the chamber slid open. Two more Taelon scientists, Kee’sha and Ve’ep, walked through into the room. They stared curiously at the Hegawud/human hybrid.
    “Kee’sha,” spoke up Zo’or in an icy tone, “how . . . courageous of you to show your face on our homeship, after your previous failure.”
    Zo’or was, of course, referring to the virus that Kee’sha had been unable to find a cure for.
    “Once again, I apologize.” Kee’sha bowed her head shamefully.
    “My, what is this?” Ve’ep eyed the baby Hegawud instinctively.
    “Let us just say that it is a disgusting combination of a wretched human and a wretched Hegawud,” interpreted Le’er.
    “It may prove to be valuable in advancing Taelon medicine,” Pu’ur contributed to the conversation.
    “And human medicine, as well?” ventured Ve’ep.
    “Human medicine is not the priority of our race,” scoffed Kee’sha.
    Zo’or nodded approvingly, and Kee’sha returned him a reluctant smile.
    “Pu’ur will be performing more surgeries for our experiments in the very near future,” explained Le’er. “These trials will likely enable us to continue the exploitation of inferior species to create new cross-breeds for us to experiment on at our will.”
    “So what will our next endeavor be?” questioned Kee’sha.
    Le’er tilted her head deviously. “A hybrid derived from a Hegawud and a Taelon. And shortly thereafter . . . a hybrid containing the DNA of a Taelon, a human, and a Hegawud.”
    “Intriguing,” commented Kee’sha.
    “Exactly,” Zo’or responded.
    Ve’ep excused himself from the laboratory, and returned to his resting quarters. Once there, Ve’ep took our his global and dialed up the coordinates of Dr. Belman.
    “Belman,” he said, staring at the doctor on the screen, “I must inform you of an urgent matter.”

    * * *

    Too weak to even move at that point, Augur lapsed into a deep sleep. Boone, Lili, Park, and Belman took turns watching over him.
    As he submerged further down into his subconscious, Augur found himself strolling through a cloudy atmosphere, as though he was in another realm. Then, he spotted a familiar figure sitting atop a granite boulder.
    It was his sister, Juanita!
    “Augur,” she called to him.
    “Baby sis?” he responded back to her.
    He ran through the foggy mist and reached his sister. Augur gave Juanita a big hug.
    “I’ve missed you so much!” he said through tears.
    “Don’t worry about me, Augur,” persuaded Juanita. “My baby should be your concern.”
    “Your baby?” Augur looked dumbfounded. “Who’s the father?”
    “It’s harder to explain than that,” Juanita sighed. “I gave birth to her. She’s my baby. You’re the only one I’ve got. You are the uncle, after all.”
    “Where can I find your baby?” Augur asked.
    “The Taelons have her. They used to keep my child on their mothership,” Juanita told him, “but by now, they’ve brought her down to Earth.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I can feel it. A mother knows.”
    “What do you want me to do?” he asked, eagerly.
    Juanita gazed back at her brother sadly. “Rescue my baby. Please! I can’t stand the thought of Zo’or and Le’er caring for the well-being of my child.”
    Augur nodded, sympathetically, making a silent vow.
    “Madame Natasha Sverilla can help you,” Juanita added. “She has communicated with me from your reality. Natasha is a good friend of mine, she often works with the Romanian Companion, Si’ib.”
    “A Taelon?!” spat out Augur.
    “Don’t worry, bro. Si’ib is a nice Taelon. He is one of Da’an’s allies. You must wake up now. They’re giving me a limited amount of time to be part of your subconscious.”
    “Just one more question, before I go.” Augur felt as though the situation was surreal. “Tu’um told me she’s talked with you. Is that true?”
    “Yes,” Juanita nodded. “Tu’um would not lie to you, Augur. I trust her. We talk all the time. Tu’um is one of a handful of Taelons who can communicate with those of us who’ve passed on. I’ve also had conversations with Co’al, Ih’mal, and Si’ib.”
    “You trust all of them?”
    “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be talking with them.”
    “Do you think Zo’or knows?”
    “No, and I’d like to keep it that way.” Juanita clasped her hands around Augur’s palms. He could feel her hands around his! This was for real! “I love you,” she whispered.
    Augur closed his eyes, and then opened them again. He was back in the Resistance Headquarters.

    * * *

    Pu’ur delicately removed a vial from a shelf. The vial contained a powerful growth hormone.
    She was standing in the middle of Kee’sha’s laboratory, in Athens, Greece. Also present were Kee’sha, Zo’or, Le’er, and Ve’ep.
    “Finally,” Le’er rubbed her hands together excitedly. “We shall now be able to create abundant new species through genetic engineering.”
    “I have allowed you to use my laboratory,” Kee’sha pointed out. “Please explain what this experiment involves.”
    “This is not ‘your’ laboratory, Kee’sha,” responded Zo’or, antagonistically. “It belongs to the entire Taelon race.”
    “Furthermore,” added Le’er, “our present experiment will enable us to combine the DNA of a Hegawud and a Taelon.”
    On cue, Pu’ur carried in a tank that held a mother symbiote of the crustacean-like Hegawud species. The symbiote squirmed around restlessly in its aquarium.
    “Where exactly will you obtain the Taelon DNA from?” queried Ve’ep.
    With sly grins, Zo’or and Le’er stared deviously right back at Ve’ep. It took him only a split second to infer what their plans were.
    “I think not!” Ve’ep turned around and headed for the laboratory exit. But Le’er grabbed ahold of his arm.
    “Not so fast!” she commanded to Ve’ep. “We need to ‘borrow’ something from you.”
    “No!” Ve’ep protested. “Kee’sha, stop them!”
    Kee’sha just stood there, and did nothing.
    “Pu’ur, now!” Zo’or ordered hastily. “Do it!”
    With Zo’or’s mandate, Pu’ur rushed over to them and jabbed her syringe into Ve’ep’s arm. She withdrew the adequate amount of substance from Ve’ep that she needed.
    Ve’ep exhaled weakly. “What have you done?!” he cried out.
    Zo’or, Le’er, and Kee’sha simply watched with fascination as Pu’ur performed the procedure. She was quick and nimble. Pu’ur held the syringe containing the extracted DNA from Ve’ep’s arm, and inserted the needle into the mother symbiote. The creature released a high-pitched squeal of agony. This was followed by Pu’ur injecting another needle into the mother symbiote, this one filled with growth and fertility hormones.
    A massive swirl of blue energy particles surrounded the symbiote. Over the next couple of hours, the mother symbiote gave rapid birth to a smaller version of itself. Once born, the new baby began alternately morphing back and forth between having the appearance of a Hegawud and glimmering the transparent blue sparkles of a Taelon energy state.
    “Imperative accomplished,” nodded Pu’ur. “We now have engineered the very first Taelon/Hegawud cross-breed.”
    “The first of many,” Le’er concluded.
    Ve’ep watched the little Taelon/Hegawud hybrid creature with wide eyes - - the creature containing some of his very own DNA.
    “How does it feel to be a parent?” chided Zo’or, as he smirked at Ve’ep.
    The Companion physicist was left speechless. Ve’ep remained motionless, as the Taelon/Hegawud offspring scampered across the floor and timidly began crawling up Ve’ep’s body.
    Kee’sha looked amazed. “I believe that the infant feels a profound connection to you,” she remarked, as the Taelon/Hegawud cuddled itself up in Ve’ep’s arms.
    Juanita’s Hegawud/human baby rapped against the glass of the aquarium that it was trapped in, as it watched the Taelon/Hegawud newborn morph itself from its Taelon true form to its Hegawud exterior and back again.
    “You Taelons are not divine!” shouted Juanita’s baby through the glass barriers of its aquarium/terrarium prison. “Stop these experiments at once!”
    “Oh, this is only the beginning!” cackled Le’er.

    * * *

    Da’an’s eyes snapped open abruptly.
    “A new presence has joined the Commonality,” determined the Companion.
    “You can feel it?” his implant, William Boone, understood.
    Da’an nodded.
    “A new Taelon has been born?” Boone further inquired.
    The North American Companion paused. “Not entirely,” Da’an carefully worded.
    “Well, what then?”
    “It shares the ancestral genes of another race.”
    “Another race? Which race?”
    “The Hegawuds. They are an alien species whom we encountered thousands of years ago.”
    “Were they your enemies?”
    “You know, you ask too many questions!” Agent Sandoval cut in. He was looking quite annoyed at Commander Boone.
    “Hey, I was just curious.”
    “Da’an will tell you by his own will, if he so chooses.” Once again, the attaché felt a tingle of jealousy toward Boone’s deeper relationship with Da’an.
    “Ah, but Agent Sandoval, I did choose to tell Commander Boone by my own will.”
    Da’an then closed his eyes. That meant he was done discussing that topic for the day.
    Sandoval and Boone left Da’an’s office so they could give their Companion a chance to rest.
    “Boone, do not bug Da’an about these petty little issues,” pouted Sandoval.
    “I was just making conversation!” William Boone looked taken aback.
    “We serve Da’an, we are his implants, Boone,” Sandoval began another lecture. “It is not our place to question . . .”
    Sandoval suddenly stopped short, confronted by an unorthodox figure standing in front of him.
    “Diana VanKirk?! What the hell are you doing here?!” barked the attaché, upon recognizing the woman.
    “I can be anywhere I want!” howled Diana. She had on a jungle-print dress, cut above the knees and off the shoulders.
    “That is inappropriate office attire!” Sandoval’s face turned red.
    “Then it’s a good thing I don’t work at this office,” Diana grunted right back at him.
    “Leave immediately!”
    “Nooooooooo!!!”
    “Boone!” Sandoval addressed his colleague in exasperation, “is Diana’s outfit appropriate for a workplace setting?”
    “Well, Zo’or certainly would disapprove,” the commander commented.
    “Yeah? Well, Zo’or can kiss my ass!” rumbled Diana in her deep voice.

    * * *

    “I don’t care how we do it, we can bust down their walls for all I care! Just get Juanita’s baby outta there!”
    Augur’s voice boomed and echoed through the underground Resistance labyrinth.
    “Calm down. We need a game plan.” Sahjit was mapping out a route that the Liberation members would take to retrieve the baby from Kee’sha’s laboratory.
    “Calm down?! Is your nephew trapped in some Taelon glass cage?!” Augur shouted.
    “No,” answered Sahjit, “but I know that if it was my Rayna who we were trying to rescue safely, I’d want a well planned out strategy for us to follow.”
    “Augur, who cares?” Jonathan Doors groaned. “It’s just a stupid kid.”
    The computer genius gripped the front of Doors’s shirt. “You did NOT say that!” he growled.
    Belman approached them to diffuse the situation. “We’re not going to get anywhere by fighting,” she lectured to them.
    “As much as I hate to agree, Belman’s right,” Park consented reluctantly. “After all, Jonathan, that organism will be invaluable to the medical community for scientific research. Who knows what advances we could make!”
    Dr. Belman put her hands on her hips. “That is NOT what I meant, Dr. Park! And you know it!”
    “My nephew is not some guinea pig!” yelled Augur, now steaming. “You can forget your damn experiment, Park, because you’ll be cutting open Juanita’s child over my dead body!”
    “Come on, be reasonable,” argued Dr. Park. “What is the potential sacrifice of one life in exchange for the salvation of thousands, perhaps millions, of others?”
    “I don’t see why we’re arguing,” complained Doors. “It’s a stupid issue! Who cares?!”
    “I know I do,” Boone spoke up.
    “Me too,” Lili added.
    “As well as me,” chimed in Sahjit.
    “Thank you,” Augur smiled at them.
    “Jonathan, the reason we’re making a big deal out of this is because it is a big deal!” stressed Belman. “Dr. Park wants to exploit this child for all it’s worth, and I’m trying to make you and her see reason.”
    “I do not!” protested Park.
    “Who cares?!” repeated Doors.
    “Stop fighting!!” screamed Augur.
    Park reached for the nearest syringe.
    “You touch that syringe, Park, and you’re a dead woman!” threatened Belman.
    Suddenly, the alarms went off.
    “Unauthorized DNA in the vicinity!” shouted one of the Liberation technicians.
    The Resistance workers reached for their guns.
    “Ah, put your rifles away!” came a voice from the elevator shaft. “It just me!”
    It was Madame Sverilla.
    The noteworthy Romanian psychic and spiritual medium stepped into the hideout. All eyes were on her.
    “What you peoples staring at?!” Madame Sverilla snapped. “Back to work! Get!”
    They all returned to their duties.
    Madame Sverilla had a round, wrinkly face. She was aging archaically and held a crystal ball under one arm, wearing heavily beaded and jingly gypsy-like clothing.
    “What are you doing here?” Doors eyed the psychic suspiciously.
    “I invited her,” stated Augur.
    “You WHAT??!!”
    “I help you see future. I tell you what to do,” provided Madame Sverilla. “That how I operate. You got a problem with?!”
    “Well, actually . . .”
    “Good!!” Sverilla ignored Doors. “Let us begin. Burning daylight here!”
    Lili raised her hand. “Uh, Madame Sverilla . . . ?”
    “WHAT??!!”
    “You work for Si’ib, right?”
    “Yes! I friends with him. What your point?!”
    “Well, won’t he know about your visit here?”
    “Oh, ya! Ya! He already know! He know I here! Me told him!”
    “That was stupid,” Doors folded his arms, “and I don’t care how ‘psychic’ you think you are! A Taelon cannot be trusted.”
    “Silence, Mr. Magoo!” Sverilla held up her hand at Jonathan Doors. “You stupid! You no know what you talk about!”
    “If Si’ib knows about us, you’ve put this entire operation in danger!” growled Doors.
    “Si’ib no tell other Taelons,” Sverilla defended her comrade. “Si’ib and I already know your secret! That good enough for us! Ha! Ha! We know Resistance secret! Ha! Ha!”
    “Madame Sverilla, tell them!” Augur persuaded.
    “Ah, yes,” remarked Madame Sverilla. “Me contacted Augur’s lovely sister, Jemima.”
    “It’s Juanita,” Augur corrected her.
    “Whatever! You want me to tell or no?!”
 :   “Go ahead.”
    “Juanita say we should rescue her baby girl. The baby is big importance to future of humans and Taelons.”
    “Really?” Dr. Park raised her eyebrows.
    “Ya! But you no go around pulling baby’s legs off!” Sverilla stuck her finger in Park’s face. “That bad!”
    Park looked annoyed.
    Doors glared at Madame Sverilla. “How do we know if you’re not just some big fraud?”
    “Because,” explained Madame Sverilla, “I know!”
    “Yeah,” repeated Augur, “she know!”
    “Natasha,” Dr. Belman directed her gaze at Madame Sverilla, “what can you tell us about the condition of Juanita's child?”
    “Oh, she fine!” explained Sverilla in her heavy Romanian accent. “The baby is a girl, by the way. You paint her crib pink now!”
    “So the Taelons haven’t hurt her?” Augur breathed out, almost relieved.
    “No, not yet.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?!”
    “It mean they cook your little niece for breakfast if you no hurry and save her hiney!” Sverilla now looked impatient. “What you people got to eat around here? I starving!”
    “We’ve got to get her out!” hollered Augur.
    Belman touched his arm. “We’re going to get your niece out of there, don’t worry.” Dr. Belman frowned in vengeance. “One way or another.”
    “Hello!” piped up Madame Sverilla in a testy voice. “What about me? I hungry! My stomach growl! Feed me!”
    “So you’re actually going through with this hair-brained scheme?” Jonathan Doors shook his head. “Am I the only one taking this Liberation movement seriously?”
    “No, you aren’t, Jonathan,” Boone assured him. “But we’ve got to do this. It’s only right.”
    “You people talk too much,” cut in Sverilla. “What about important things?! Like me! Now you people make me thirsty! Gimme food and something to drink too! Got iced tea?”

    * * *

    Ba’ad, the Companion to Sudan, stood staunchly in the middle of Kee’sha’s lab. The tall, somewhat slender, mean-tempered Companion surveyed the laboratory.
    “Welcome, Ba’ad!” Zo’or entered the room and greeted the black-uniformed Sudanian Companion.
    “Where is the specimen?” Ba’ad demanded rudely.
    Zo’or looked a bit shocked. “Right this way,” he said, hesitantly leading Ba’ad over to the tank with Juanita’s Hegawud/human daughter in it.
    Ba’ad peered in.
    “Stay away from me!” shrieked Juanita’s daughter.
    “Silence!” Ba’ad reached into the tank, his shakarava vibrating menacingly.
    “Stop!” Ba’ad was interrupted by Le’er, who rushed hurriedly into the room, about as quickly as possible while wearing her uncomfortable platform shoes.
    Juanita’s Hegawud/human child took that moment to clamp her pinchers around Ba’ad’s wrist. Ba’ad let out a painful howl.
    Le’er looked flustered. “Ba’ad, get your hand out of my tank!” She glared at the hybrid child. “Creature, let go of Ba’ad right this instant!”
    “No!!” shot back the imprisoned baby. She squeezed Ba’ad’s wrist even harder.
    “Pu’ur!” Zo’or called. “Get in here at once!”
    Pu’ur entered the room drowsily, as she had been resting in her energy state. With one look at the situation, Pu’ur evaluated the scenario. She grabbed a needle, rushed up to the tank, and injected Juanita’s child.
    The child loosened her grip on Ba’ad’s hand and fell over unconscious.
    “How could you let that . . . thing do this to me?!” Ba’ad hollered at Le’er, his voice echoing through the laboratory. The Taelon held up his throbbing arm in excruciation.
    “If you had kept your hand out of my tank, none of this would have happened!” Le’er verbally retaliated. She looked extremely frustrated and irate with Ba’ad.
    Zo’or stepped between the two Taelons. “Let us not quarrel,” he suggested. “Le’er, why don’t we elucidate to Ba’ad our . . . plans for humanity.”
    A wicked smile spread across Le’er’s face. “Yes. Good idea.”
    Zo’or turned to face Ba’ad. “As you know, the Synod has sent us to Earth with a broad purpose . . . to use humanity for defense against the Jaridians. Le’er and I have concocted an agenda to enslave the human race through our bio-engineered CVIs and by genetic mutation.”
    “That is why our experiments are of the utmost importance,” continued Le’er. “They will allow us to fuse together a number of inferior races - - including humans and Hegawuds - - into sub-species or cross-breeds. Some will be combined with Taelon DNA. Many will be used as warriors. We have our most capable scientists working under us to achieve this.”
    “I support your purpose,” expressed Ba’ad. “But be that as it may, my top imperative is to demonstrate that the Taelon race is universally superior. I will personally prove to every inferior being that Taelons are physiologically and intellectually dominant. And if that means I must kill some of these creatures, then so be it!”
    “Fine. But you must not kill any of my symbiotes nor their offspring,” Le’er warned him.
    “Are you going to stop me?” Ba’ad challenged antagonistically.
    “If need be,” glared Le’er.
    Suddenly, Diana VanKirk appeared in Kee’sha’s laboratory.
    “You’re all wrong!” she declared in her deep, husky voice.
    “Who are you? How did you get in here?!” demanded Le’er.
    “That’s for me to know and for you to find out!” answered Diana. “I know all your secrets!”
    “You must die, human!” shouted Ba’ad.
    “I’m not a human!” Diana breathed deep.
    “Then what are you?” Zo’or interrogated her.
    “You’d like to know, wouldn’t you?” Diana cackled in monotone.
    Ba’ad held up his glimmering shakarava threateningly at Diana. “I’ll use this!” he warned her.
    “Ooooh, I’m SO scared!” Diana grunted sarcastically. She abruptly disappeared into thin air.
    “Where did she go?” wondered Le’er, as she, Zo’or, and Ba’ad looked around.
    Le’er felt a cold, brittle finger tap her on the shoulder. The Scandinavian Companion swiveled her head around and came face-to-face with Diana.
    “Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!” Diana breathed in Le’er’s face psychotically.
    Le’er shrieked a squeaky Taelon sound.
    “Leave here at once!” Zo’or ordered to Diana.
    “Nooooooooooooo!!!!!!!” Diana responded. “Zo’or, you look like you need a lift!”
    All of a sudden, Zo’or felt some eminent force lift him up into the air beyond his control.
    “Put me down!” commanded Zo’or, as he hovered in the air and struggled against the force.
    “Make meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!” Diana’s eyes began glowing a demented yellowish-orange color. Then, she once again disappeared.
    THUD!
    Zo’or fell from the air and hit the floor hard. He looked furious.
    “I’ll be baaaaaack!!” Diana’s voice called to them out of nowhere.

    * * *

    “Flashlights?”
    “Check.”
    “Guns?”
    “Check.”
    “Smoke grenades?”
    “Check.”
    Boone and Lili were taking inventory of the supplies which would be used for the Resistance raid at Kee’sha’s laboratory. They were planning a rescue mission to free Augur’s niece from Taelon captivity.
    “Augur, I really think you should stay behind,” voiced Sahjit, zipping up his pitch black bodysuit.
    “No way!” insisted Augur, who was already dressed in black. “I’m not letting anything happen to Juanita’s daughter!”
    “Are we ready?” Belman marched up to Boone and Lili. Park followed behind, and looked like she was raring to go.
    “I still think we have too many people,” Boone cautioned, staring over the six of them.
    “Park, Belman, one of you stay behind,” demanded Doors. “I don’t want to lose both of my doctors.”
    “I’m going with,” asserted Park, her mind intently made up. “I wouldn’t miss seeing this for the world.”
    “And I don’t trust her being the only medical professional there,” sighed Belman, verbally punching the word “her” as she gestured to Park. “And might I add, I use the term ‘professional’ very loosely.”
    “Hey!” Dr. Park frowned, offended.
    Boone, Lili, Augur, Sahjit, Park, and Belman all boarded Lili’s shuttle. Captain Marquette steered her shuttle through inter-dimensional, and landed in Athens, Greece within minutes.
    “We’ve got one chance,” Boone addressed the group. “Failure is not an option.”
    They were all dressed in plain black bodysuits, with black facemasks. One by one, they filed out of the shuttle. Lili sneaked up behind the security guard and whacked him on the back of his head with her machine gun.
    “Let’s go!” Lili shouted.
    They ran down the corridor that led from the security entrance, all six of them dashing single file in a row, like guerrilla warriors. Suddenly, they ran straight into . . . Zo’or!
    “What is the meaning of this?!” Zo’or yelled at them.
    Boone, fortunately wearing his facemask, slammed his machine gun against Zo’or’s head, knocking the Taelon off-balance. Zo’or was thrown against the wall . . . hard!
    Meanwhile, a masked Augur burst into a nearby laboratory. “She’s in here! I can feel it!”
    The Resistance members followed Augur into the laboratory. There was Juanita’s Hegawud/human daughter, sitting in her aquarium/terrarium.
    “Help me!!” she screamed at them, pounding her pinchers against the glass of the tank. The child seemed to know that she was related to Augur, despite his masked face.
    “I think not!” another Taelon voice boomed.
    It was Ba’ad, standing in the doorway. He walked over to the tank and began jabbing the baby creature with a sharp metallic instrument. The baby screamed out in fear, desperately trying to fend off Ba’ad’s harassment with her claws.
    Augur couldn’t bear to allow that to happen. He leaped at Ba’ad ferociously, growling, seething, seeming as though he could tear Ba’ad’s limbs off.
    With a large surge of energy, Ba’ad placed his shakarava against Augur’s intruding body. Augur felt a painful shock sensation, crippling him as he fell to the floor on his knees.
    The techno-wizard turned his head and noticed a second creature in the tank, this one resembling a Hegawud but also a Taelon. It was the creature that had been bred from Ve’ep’s DNA. This second organism was smaller, younger, and huddled next to Juanita’s daughter, shivering as they watched the spectacle from inside of the tank.
    As Ba’ad continued to jostle Augur, Park gave Ba’ad a swift kick, knocking the Taelon off-balance. Infuriated, Ba’ad stood up and fiercely pushed Dr. Park to the ground. At that moment, Belman grabbed a thick medical book off of a nearby table and slammed it against Ba’ad’s head. The Sudanian Companion collapsed to the ground.
    Zo’or hovered in the doorway, his face turning blue.
    “Sahjit, use the smoke grenades!” Boone shouted over the clamor.
    Pulling some smoke grenades from the pocket of his hooded jacket, Sahjit dropped the grenades to the floor. Smoke began to rise, and the room filled with a foggy, artificial smoke-substance.
    Lili was reaching into the aquarium/terrarium duplex to attempt to rescue the captive creatures. However, the organisms would not let themselves be touched, and pinched at the captain in fear.
    Dr. Park picked up a paperweight and hurled it at the tank.
    “Park! No!” shouted Belman, fearing for the safety of the baby symbiotes.
    But the glass had already shattered. The hybrid babies leapt away from the remains of the shattered tank. They hopped right into Augur’s arms. The one who Juanita had given birth to cuddled herself up against Augur’s face.
    By now, the thick smoke had completely invaded the room. Augur, carrying both of the babies, led the way out of there. The five other Resistance members followed.
    Running down the hallway, they practically bumped into Kee’sha and Le’er.
    “Who are you?” Kee’sha asked.
    “Come on!” Lili shouted, pushing past Kee’sha. Boone, Augur, Belman, Park, and Sahjit each ran past Kee’sha, as the Taelon scientist stood there immobile and confused.
    Le’er caught sight of Augur holding the baby hybrid creatures. “Those are mine!” she reverberated.
    “I don’t think so!” Augur smacked Le’er in the face, and dashed past her as the Companion fell backwards.
    The Resistance members disappeared between the corridor.
    “How could you let them get away?!” Le’er snapped at Kee’sha.
    Zo’or was crawling out of the laboratory on his hands and knees. Smoke filtered out from inside of the room.
    “Wretched humans!” growled Zo’or.
    “Kee’sha let them escape!” accused Le’er.
    “Can’t you do anything right?!” Zo’or thundered at Kee’sha. “You are a worthless Taelon!”
    Kee’sha closed her eyes and hung her head.

    * * *

    Seated next to his beloved computer, Augur cradled Juanita’s child in his arms.
    “You are a beautiful creature,” remarked the techno-wizard in awe and wonder. “I wish you could have known your mother.”
    “So my . . . mother was your . . . sister?” asked the baby Hegawud/human.
    “Yes.” Augur had a faraway look in his eyes. “She was a great person. Her name was Juanita.” He looked at his hybrid niece. “You need a name, don’t you?”
    “That would be most . . . delightful,” replied the creature, still a bit shaky in her pronunciation. “Choose a name for me, Augur my . . . uncle.”
    Augur thought for a moment. “Well, it would be nice to somehow name you after your mother, Juanita. And you’re half-Hegawud, so how about . . . Hegawita?”
    “I like it,” she responded.
    “Then Hegawita it is.”
    Lili and Boone came over to them.
    “Hey little guy,” Boone smiled at Hegawita.
    “I am female,” Hegawita stated seriously.
    “May I touch you?” Lili asked, awestruck.
    “I suppose.”
    Slowly, Lili caressed Hegawita’s solid outer shell.
    “You feel like a lobster,” giggled Lili.
    In response, Hegawita playfully clicked her pinchers together like castanets.
    Boone burst out laughing.
    Doors and Belman had now joined the group.
    “So have you been given a name yet?” Belman amiably questioned Hegawita.
    “Yes,” the creature answered. “Uncle Augur has named me Hegawita, in partial tribute to my mother.”
    Doors sneered at Augur. “What the hell kind of a name is that?!”
    Belman elbowed Doors restrictively.
    “It’s my name!” spoke up Hegawita, defensively, pouting at Doors. “And speaking of which, what kind of a name is ‘Doors’? At least I wasn’t named after an inanimate object!”
    They all shared a laugh at Doors’s expense - - all of them except for Doors.
    “How did you learn to speak so well, Hegawita?” Commander Boone inquired.
    “Auntie Pu’ur taught me,” was Hegawita’s reply.
    Lili hiccuped a laugh. “Auntie Pu’ur?!”
    Just then, Sahjit and Dr. Park joined the group.
    “Augur, I’d like to examine your niece . . .” Park began.
    “Dr. Park, if you even touch her, then you’re a dead-woman!” Augur hugged his niece close to him protectively.
    “I’m just going to run some tests!” Park put her hands on her hips.
    Dr. Belman glared at her. “Park, you will do no such thing. Hegawita has been through enough already as it is!”
    “Hegawita?” Dr. Park stared at Augur’s niece blankly.
    “Oh, I get it!” realized Sahjit. “Hegawud. Juanita. Hegawita.”
    “Where is this . . . kid supposed to live?” asked Jonathan Doors.
    “Why down here, of course,” said Augur. “She’ll be here with me. And when we’re not down here, she’ll stay with me in my apartment.”
    “What about this one?” Doors pointed at the Taelon/Hegawud hybrid who had been born after Hegawita was.”
    “Her and I have formed a friendship,” Hegawita informed him. “She shall stay with me. We are like sisters.”
    Augur hugged Hegawita and the other hybrid baby close to him. Tears ran down his face. Not tears of sorrow, nor tears of grief or mourning. Tears of joy.

    * * *

    FIN
 
 

Copyright 1998 by Earthboy
Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict is property of Tribune Entertainment Company and is produced by Roddenberry/Kirshner Productions. No monetary profit is being made from this work. No infringement is intended. If you sue me, I will send Dr. Park after you with a syringe.